Mail-box



2 SheetsSheet 1. E. E. POSS.

MAIL BOX.

(No Model.)

No. 597,179; Patented Jan. 11,1898.

fnvenzor: flaw, fmww UNITED STATES PATENT @rricn.

EDWARD E. FOSS, OF WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS.

MAIL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,179, dated January 11, 1898.

Application filed April 29, 1897. Serial No. 634,364. (No inodehl To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDW'ARD E. FOSS, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVoburn, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in'Mail-Boxes, of which the following is a specification, reference be ing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

In the operation of the mail service it is coming to be generally recognized that an important saving in time, and consequently increased eiiicienc'y of the system, can be secured by the use of a box placed outside of the door of a house on the postmans route.

for the reception of mail. "When the carrier has to wait at each house for the door-bell to be answered, the delay accumulates on the whole route to perhaps a quarter or a third of his entire time, and therefore if that delay did not exist he would be enabled to make four or five deliveries a day where now he can make but three or four. Besides, where there is a house-to-house collection a great delay is also experienced if the postman is compelled to go to a house and wait for the bell to be answered, frequently to find that there is no mail to be taken. Various attempts have been made to obviate these delays and expedite the mail service, but the difficulties are very serious in the way of providing some sort of mail-receptacle which shall be simpleand inexpensive, uninjured by exposure to the weather, and suited to re ceive without increase in its size papers or packages as well as letters,and which,besides, can be expeditiously manipulated by the carrier with his one free hand.

My invention will first be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated the best embodiment thereof which I have yet contrived, after which its distinguishing characteristics will be particularly pointed out and distinctly defined in the claims at the close of this specification. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of my mail-box with mail therein. Fig.

2 is a middle vertical section of the box with its parts in a different position.

1 is a backboard designed to be affixed to the wall of a house or to any suitable support.

2is the cleat attached horizontally to the lower portion of the face of the backboard.

3 is the box proper, preferably formed deeper (from front to back) at the bottom than at the top, so as to afford the greatest capacity with the neatest and least cumbrous shape. The lower rear end of the box is preferably hinged by the hinges 4 to the upper rear edge of the cleat 2, being so hinged previous to the attachment of the cleat to the backboard 1. Thus the box 3 may rest with its rear face against the backboard, or, as shown in Fig. 1, may swing forward on the hinges 4 as a pivot, and this swinging may continue to the point (shown in Fig. 2) where the bottom surface of the box impinges upon the upper edge of the cleat 2. shown in Fig. 1 is about half-way between these two extremes. The said cleat therefore operates as a stop to arrest the motion of the box when it tips forward. As will be obvious, any well-known means other than the hinges 4 of pivotally securing the box or receptacle to its support or backboard may be employed. It will be clear also that instead of the cleat 2 any well-known form of stop which will serve to arrest the forward swing of the box or receptacle at a given point may be used. 1

5 is a lid which is pivotally secured, Jreferably by the hinges 6 6, to the backboard 1 and projects over the top of the box 3.

7 7 are strips of metal aflixed to the side edges of the lid 5 and formed each with a row of hooks or projecting ratchet-teeth 8 on its lower edge. A single strip would be operative, but would not be so advantageous.

9 9 are two pins driven into the sides of the box to be engaged by the ratchet-teeth 8. Such engagement is shown in Fig. 1.

10 is the door of the box 3, swinging on the hinges 11 11.

12 is a lock of any suitable construction. ,Each householder will be provided with a The position.

key that will open only his own box, but the lected may be observed from a distance. let is a piece of glass or mica covering the said aperture and affixed to the inner face of the door 10, serving to protect the contents of the box both from the weather and from sneakthieves.

15 is a letter-slot in the top of the box over,

which the lid 5 preferably projects, but from which it may be lifted for the insertion of letters.

16 is a spring-retaining device having its lower end attached to the interior face of the door just below the aperture 13 and hearing against the surface of the box above the aperture 13 and. having its upper end curved back slightly to permit the easy introduction of mail-matter between the retainer and the door 10. This retainer is designed to receive any letters left by the householder for collection and to support them against the inner face of the door over the aperture 13, where their presence may be observed from the outside. i

In the use of my box in cases where there is a house-to-house collection as well as delivery the postman coming along on M his route, when he has no mail to deliver at the particular house, is enabled to observe from a distance through the aperture 13 of the box the presence or absence of any mail to be collected, and this feature is especially valuable in outlying districts,where houses often stand back from the road. If there is nothing to be collected, he goes on; but if there is anything to be collected or if he has any mail to deliver he proceeds to the box. In case he has mail to deliver but nothing to collect he need not use his key, but will merely with his free hand raise the lid of the box, as shown in Fig. 2. The receptacle 3 will thereupon tip forward of its own weight till arrested by the edge of the cleat, and the carrier will then deposit any letters in the receptacle. Any papers or packages he will thrust behind the receptacle into the V-shaped space be-. tween the receptacle and the backboard, and he will then push back the receptacle so as to J clasp the said mail-matter and will secure the receptacle in that position by dropping the lid 5 and causing the ratchet-teeth thereof to engage with the pins or projections on the receptacle. By this construction I produce a box which when in use to receive letters only takes up the space of an ordinary letterboX, but which is capable of being adapted quickly for the reception of bulky matter. Owing to the graduated space behind the receptacle when it is tipped forward almost any size or thickness of package can be firmly secured and practically protected from the weather. It will be observed that even when the box is tipped well forward the lid covers the slot 15 and thereby completely protects the letters in the box from rain or snow.

The space between the box or receptacle and backboard may of course be used by the householder to deposit packages or papers to be collected, and it also serves as a place for the newsboy to leave the daily paper in windy weather.

While I contemplate arranging the lid so as to performthe double ofiice of sheltering the mail and securing the receptacle at any desired angle to the backboard, it will be perceived that the latter function is the most importantfand that a variety of constructions may be substituted which will be equivalent to that which I employ without performing the additional and subordinate function of sheltering the letter-slot in the top of the receptacle. Regarding its most important function the lid may be more appropriately and broadly termed a retaining member.

I claim as my invention- 1. A mail-box comprising a backboard, a movable receptacle connected thereto, and a retainer by which mail-matter introduced betweensaid backboard and receptacle is held clamped between them, substantially as described. p

2. A mail-box comprising a backboard, a swinging receptacle connected thereto, and a toothed retainer connected to said backboard and adapted to hold said receptacle against mail-matter introduced between the backboard and receptacle, substantially as described.

3. A mail-box comprising a backboard, a receptacle pivotally attached thereto at its lower end and having anopening in its upper end to admit mail-matter and a lid pivoted to said backboard above said receptacle to shelter the same and provided with ratchets to engage said receptacle and hold it pressed against mail-matter introduced between the backboard and the receptacle, substantially as described. I

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWVARD E. FOSS.

WVitnesses:

WM. A. MAoLEoD, ALICE I-I. MORRISON. 

